Harrisburg, Oct. 23, 2013 – Today the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority authorized the City of New Kensington to make updates to the water lines to ensure public health and safety, said state Sen. Jim Brewster (D-Allegheny/Westmoreland).
“PENNVEST provides municipalities with access to financial resources to fund a variety of projects,” said Brewster. “This particular project will replace more than 38,200 feet of old cast iron water lines in the system.”
In addition to replacing aging water lines, the project will extend about 10,200 feet of new water line in the Allegheny Township area. This extension will benefit approximately 62 homes that use private wells with water quantity and quality issues.
“Aging water lines have become major liability, and the water lines in the area have suffered numerous leaks and breaks causing damage to streets and service disruptions,” Brewster said. “The water line renovations in New Kensington will reduce the number of water outages, ensure adequate water supply to suppress fires during emergencies and eliminate the 23 percent water loss that currently occurs.”
The municipal authority will receive a loan of $6.7 million to fund the project. Construction is expected to be complete in October 2014.
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